Networked improvement communities (NICs) are gaining importance as a structure for identifying and solving complex educational problems. Tackling these problems requires taking specific steps to make sure the NIC is built to last. In the Carnegie Commons blog, Sarah McKay summarizes an article, “A Framework for the Initiation of Networked Read more
Stanley Pogrow has produced a paper concluding that most education research is of little value to people in schools. Research validating programs to develop the reading skills of students born into poverty, for example, validates programs that are not effective in practice, he says. Pogrow’s paper analyzes in easy-to-understand language Read more
Networked improvement communities are a relatively new type of collaborative research partnership between researchers and educators. With facilitation from researchers, educators identify problems of practice, the factors that drive the problems, and promising solutions. They then engage in iterative cycles of designing, implementing, testing, and redesigning solutions, while learning from Read more
Sarah McKay recently provided an excellent introduction to Implementation Science in the Carnegie Commons Blog. Excerpts of her piece appear below: The aim of implementation science is to understand how interventions are adopted, implemented, and spread. It’s less about the effectiveness of the intervention itself, because that is expected to Read more
The Institute of Education Sciences has released two new reports from the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) program on accelerated college credit programs and college and career readiness. Characteristics and postsecondary pathways of students who participate in acceleration programs in Minnesota This REL Midwest study examined the 2011 cohort of Minnesota Read more
The Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at Johns Hopkins University has released its much anticipated website called Evidence for ESSA (www.evidenceforessa.org), a free web-based resource that provides easy access to information on programs that meet the evidence standards defined in the Every Student Succeeds Act. The website Read more
Schools with a more positive student-reported climate had higher academic achievement in English language arts and mathematics than schools with a less positive climate, according to a new study from Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) West. While there is widespread consensus that positive school climate leads to higher academic performance, most Read more
Every three years, half a million 15-year-olds in 69 countries take a two-hour test designed to gauge their ability to think. Unlike other exams, the PISA, as it is known, does not assess what teenagers have memorized. Instead, it asks them to solve problems they haven’t seen before, to identify Read more
The Institute of Education Sciences has released a new report entitled Do Low Income Students Have Access to Effective Teachers? Evidence from 26 Districts. The report from the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) examines whether low-income students are taught by less effective teachers than high-income students, Read more
In “Grading Schools: How States Should Define ‘School Quality’ Under the Every Student Succeeds Act,” Bellwether author Chad Aldeman argues that accountability systems are a state’s best tool to signal what it values and how schools should be working to improve. But if states fail to take advantage of that Read more
The ability to build relationships with students is the top trait of an effective teacher, according to a new survey released from Pearson. Survey respondents included teachers, students, parents, school administrators and policymakers from around the globe. While the survey was fielded in 23 countries, respondents from the U. S. Read more
Much will change in practice and policy as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaces the law, regulations, and guidance established through NCLB; but two elements of the new legislation stand out: the shift away from federal mandates toward greater state and local authority, and the emphasis on evidence-based school Read more
The Institute of Education Sciences is pleased to launch the new What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) website, making it easier for users to find educational interventions that make a difference. The new WWC website includes: An enhanced Find What Works (FWW) feature that allows educators and policymakers to find interventions that Read more
Lisette Partelow and Christina Baumgardner of the Center for American Progress have authored a new report, Educator Pipeline at Risk: Teacher Labor Markets after the Great Recession, that examines the supply and demand of the teacher workforce to paint a clear picture of regional shortages across the nation and potential Read more
AEI has released a new series on Competency-Based Higher Education (CBE), titled Innovate and Evaluate: Expanding the Research Base for Competency-based Education. The authors, Andrew P. Kelly and Rooney Columbus say, “Clearly, the benefits of expanding access to CBE could be substantial. But, what does existing research suggest about the likely effect Read more
Survey data can be an effective way to gather data that informs instruction or programmatic decisions. But some educators do not have the training or experience needed to design surveys or analyze the data that surveys can provide. Three research alliances in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands Read more